I’m a long-time admirer of Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was great at breaking down complicated ideas into simple statements like this one. I, too, am fond of people who can do things. Which brings me to one of those people, my son Thomas. As I watched him grow up and become the man he is today, I was always struck by his willingness to work hard. He wasn’t an exceptional student but he always had lots of common sense and the ability to focus on the task at hand.

He started waiting tables right after high school, while he attended the local community college, and he kept right on working at various jobs through two more years at the university. College never really grabbed his attention as much as his jobs did and eventually he called to ask if I thought he should quit college and take a job at Garmin instead of finishing his bachelor’s degree. I gave him my blessing and told him he could always go back later but Garmin might be too good of an opportunity to pass up. I could see he wasn’t happy wasting time at college and I remember feeling that way myself when I was 22.

There’s an inherited trait in my family that is a powerful motivator, the urge to prove oneself against all odds. I saw it in my father and myself and now it was clearly driving my son to take his leap of faith. In retrospect, it was the best decision we ever made together. He has thrived in the avionics engineering department at Garmin and he has taken on every challenge put before him, in spite of his lack of technical education. He just knows how to get things done and they have placed a ton of trust in his decision-making skills. Now he’s going back to college to get his electronics manufacturing degree. He’s challenged again by his classes but I’m hopeful he will persevere this time.

I’m extremely proud of everything he is and I know he has a bright future ahead of him. On the other hand, his mother is worried because he’s almost 30 and still hasn’t found the right girl yet. I don’t think that’s a problem but in the interest of keeping peace with my spouse I decided to write this blog post as my way of improving his chances of finding the right one. Now that our daughter is married, my wife has turned her attention to Thomas’s future and the possibility of grandchildren is now my wife’s highest priority.

So ladies, here’s your chance. You’ll never see him on The Bachelor or find him in some bar but he’s out there waiting for the perfect female. If you want a guy who works hard, has a great sense of humor, loves his dog, drives a truck, runs in distance races for fun and is overly generous with everyone around him, then Thomas Horst might be just what you’re looking for. He’s kind, compassionate, honest and trustworthy. When he finds the right girl, I’m positive it will last forever and he will do whatever it takes to make her happy. He’s just the kind of person Emerson was talking about.

(PS – Thanks to his mom’s good genes, he’s also pretty good-looking. Here’s his photo from his sister’s wedding. He got the beard from me.)

And just one more thing, watch out for the dog. He’s way too protective but they’re inseparable so I hope you like sharing the couch with a 70lb shepherd mix.

They do like each other and always have. Different personalities but very good kids all around. Feel free to pass this around in South Dakota, I think he might need a girl from up north to appreciate our place in Minnesota. He needs one who can bait her own hook, live with mosquitoes and knows how to start a fire with pine cones and twigs. Any takers?

You are right. Tom is a great guy and any lady who decides to marry him will be very lucky indeed. Parents always boast about their children, but you hit this one out of the park! Bonus – this is a bit more legit coming from a second cousin rather than Dad 😉

Thanks Amy,
I knew I could count on you to help me with this quest. Since you have such a long history with Thomas your opinion counts the most. Personally, I think he needs to meet a girl from up north to fully appreciate his virtues. Feel free to post his profile around Wisconsin and Minnesota whenever possible. Now that he’s got the scraggly beard,a 4WD truck, a dog and a place on the lake he surely meets most of the requirements for membership in the northern lights eligible bachelors club, don’t you think? With all his Garmin technology I’m sure he could find her wherever she might be hiding.